Third Week Back

There is not a single photo I can show you for my third week back, and this post is actually more for my personal record keeping than anything else. Feel free to skip it!

On Monday, August 15, I arrived home from O.K.'s with a delay of about 20 minutes - nothing unusual, as you know if you have been reading my blog for a while. The most remarkable thing about the day was that we actually saw a few drops of rain!!

After work, I wanted to go for a walk but cut it short and went home after only an hour, because I was very, very tired.

Tuesday was the day when I learned of my friend George's passing. The hot and sunny weather did certainly not fit my mood. After work, I went to see my parents. From there, my sister and I walked to her place and wrote to Lilian (George's widow) together.

The thermometer rose to 31C again on Wednesday, with a brief shower in the afternoon. Just like the previous two Wednesdays, I went for a run/walk before work, and although I didn't really feel stronger or faster, my "Runmeter" (an app on my mobile phone that I occasionally use to track a walk, run or hike) told me that I had indeed covered the 5.2 km around two minutes quicker than before.

I felt like another walk after work, and did so, this time feeling much less tired than on Monday.

It was rather windy and not quite as hot anymore on Thursday. In the early evening, my volunteer group held its regular fortnightly meeting. There were only three of us (it's still holiday time here), and since there wasn't any food to be had at our original meeting place and the one we tried as plan B claimed not to have enough space, we settled for Kullman's Diner opposite the train station. I had sweet potato chips/fries, which were delicious. 

In the past, I had been disappointed with their service a few times, and stopped going. This time, we had nothing to complain; maybe I'll start going there again.

Friday brought my friend from kindergarten days - always lovely to meet her and catch up. We grew up wall-on-wall in terraced houses and have known each other since when we were five years old, spending many of our school years in the same class. Like my sister and I, they were also two sisters, so the four of us were inseparable until the usual happened - people grow up, move away, start work or uni, meet boyfriends, get married and so on.

Anyway, my friend was visiting (she lives in Switzerland now), and we had a very nice evening together, joined a little later by O.K. who had driven the 150 km to spend the weekend with me.

On Saturday, a forecast thunderstorm made us decide to go and see my parents early so as not to get soaked on the way there or back. They had not seen O.K. in quite a long time, so that was nice for them.

Back home, the thunderstorm kept us indoors all afternoon, resting and relaxing. Shortly after 5:00 pm, the sun was back, and we went to the Ludwigsburg Weinlaube (wine fest) in the town centre - it was the last night, and we enjoyed it greatly! Food and drinks have become significantly more expensive, but that did not stop us from eating and drinking whatever took our fancy. At around 8:00 pm, a live band started to play. They were really good, and we spent the next four hours in front of the stage, dancing, singing (or rather shouting) along, using the band's breaks to have our glasses refilled or nip to the loo. At midnight sharp, the band had to stop (it is after all in town center, with many residential buildings close by), and we staggered (not really - we were still very well capable of walking properly) home.

You can imagine that Sunday was much quieter after that party night, but we did go for a walk/run late morning. After an extensive breakfast/early lunch and a bit of a rest, we walked to the lake at the northern end of Ludwigsburg (Monrepos; it has appeared a few times on my blog). We then had an early evening meal, because we wanted to leave early. Leave? Yes, I was going home with O.K. this time, to spend the following day there and go back to my place on Tuesday morning. More about that in one of my next posts.